Andrew McCarthy Arrested in Ethiopia | TheCelebrityCafe.com

The 'Weekend at Bernie's' star was escorted out of Lalibela, Ethiopia, at gunpoint. Michelle Vaccaro Actor Andrew McCarthy found himself at gunpoint while on assignment for Afar magazine. The 47-year-old Weekend at Bernie’s star took part in the magazine’s “Spin the Globe” program where the staff literally turns a globe and picks a spot at random to send a writer. According to People, McCarthy was in Lalibela, one of Ethiopia’s holiest cities, visiting an underground church when he was escorted out with a gun pointed at his back for not having the proper documentation. He said that he had purchased a ticket, but had accidentally left it in his hotel room. McCarthy wrote about the scary experience saying, “I thought his reaction to my offense was extreme; I tried to say as much. He grunted something in Amharic and prodded me with the tip of his rifle.” He added it “was just the kind of thing that happens when you show up alone in a distant country without a plan.” McCarthy was freed after some help from the locals. McCarthy shot to fame in the 80s. He starred in Mannequin, Weekend at Bernie’s and the cult flick Pretty in Pink. His most recent role was as Joe Bennett on the now defunct Lipstick Jungle. Andrew McCarthy Arrested in Ethiopia | TheCelebrityCafe.com

Flight ET409 Exposes Lebanon's Racist Underbelly

Patrick GaleyReporter based in Beirut, Lebanon
Even though there were nine nationalities aboard the Boeing 737 jet which burst into flames and crashed into the sea minutes after taking off in a violent thunderstorm on Monday morning, the Lebanese, naturally enough, only concerned themselves with one.

54 Lebanese, almost all from the country's predominately Shiite southern region, are probably dead and the nation's outpouring of grief has been intense.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri declared Monday to be a national day of mourning for the victims; the education minister closed institutions for two days as a mark of respect.

The funeral of a southern businessman, who worked for a food import country in Angola, attracted international media attention, with veiled women throwing themselves on the coffin.

Distraught friends and relatives are still thronging a hospital in southern Beirut, waiting to identify mangled bodies being dragged from the eastern Mediterranean.

The search for the plane's black box is continuing, with families of victims waiting anxiously for clues on what befell flight ET409 in the seconds before disappearing off radar screens for good.

As with any air disaster in a post 9/11 world, terrorism has been raised as a possible cause, with several Lebanese dailies carrying uncorroborated allegations that the crash was the result of a "deliberate attack."

Whatever the cause of the disaster, it has exposed the uncomfortable and often unuttered truth that many Lebanese are still virulently racist.

23 migrant domestic workers from Ethiopia were onboard the ill-fated flight, along with at least seven airline crew members. The pilot was also Ethiopian.

In the absence of concrete facts, Lebanon's transport minister suggested that pilot error may have downed the plane, with the jet having undertaking "a very strange and fast turn" seconds before crashing.

This was all the information many media outlets needed. Naharnet, an English-language news site to be read with a shovelful of salt, carried the offensive headline: "Ethiopian pilot flew wrong way!"

The complete lack of evidence aside, it is certain that no such exclamatory tone would have been used if the pilot were Lebanese.

The inference here is simple: an Ethiopian pilot - silly him - ignored the...MORE

Yemen, the new Eldorado ?

Every day on the southern coast of Yemen, illegal boats drop off men, and women running from war and poverty in Africa. But they’ve come to one of the poorest places on earth. REPORTERS By Cyril VANIER / Karim HAKIKI We’re standing on a beach in southern Yemen, early one November morning. On the opposite side of the Gulf of Aden lies the Horn of Africa, one of the most troubled regions on earth, racked by civil war and poverty. Those who can pay for their way out, make their way to Yemen. Seventy dollars buys them a spot on the next boat out. Many are beaten on the way, sometimes women are raped, and all too often - passengers drown. Those who reach Yemen will have to start a new life from scratch. The sea is calm this morning, it is high season for illegal boats crossing into Yemen. Last night, we heard a motor boat travelling parallel to the beach. There was no light, no noise on board except for the engine: probably a smuggler using the cover of night to carry his human cargo. Before sunrise, we meet up with a Yemeni charity, tasked with finding and sheltering Somali immigrants. We drive up and down the coastline, looking for what the United Nations call “new arrivals”. In a cemetery along the way, we number 41 tombstones – that’s how many bodies have washed up on beaches in this area since May- and spot five empty graves. They won’t stay empty for long: high season means more people are bound to drown over the coming weeks. ...MORE

Africa shows a willingness to negotiate - COP15 United Nations Climate Change Conference Copenhagen 2009

Rie Jerichow 16/12/2009 16:20 Earlier this week, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown met with Ethiopia's Prime Minister and African Union climate negotiator Meles Zenawi. On Wednesday Brown said that Zenawi would soon come up with a proposal that could be an important step forward. So he did. Meles Zenawi has announced that he supports 100 billion US dollars annual funds by 2020 from rich countries to help the poor world fight and adapt to climate changes. The EU has estimated that the developing countries will need 150 billion dollars. "On long-term financing, I propose funding for adaptation and mitigation (emissions curbs) should start by 2013, to reach up to 50 billion dollars per annum by 2015 and 100 billion dollars per annum by 2020," he said on behalf of the African group, according to Reuters. "No less than 50 percent should be allocated to adaptation to vulnerable and poor countries and regions such as African and small islands states," Meles Zenawi added. Meles Zenawi hinted that Africa would not insist on public money. In his proposal, funding would be financed by creative financing mechanisms including carbon taxes and sales of emissions rights, Reuters reports. "I know my proposal today will disappoint some Africans. My proposal scales back our expectation with respect to the level of funding in return for more reliable funding," the African Union climate negotiator said. (Photo: Scanpix/AFP) READ MORE Africa shows a willingness to negotiate - COP15 United Nations Climate Change Conference Copenhagen 2009

“We will not repeat the mistakes committed in the 2005 elections”

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi By Kaleyesus Bekele Prime Minister Meles Zenawi yesterday said that his government would not repeat the mistakes committed in the May 2005 election in the May 2010 elections. At a press conference he gave yesterday at his office, Meles told local reporters that his government was not prepared for the election riots of 2005. “Starting from putting in place a sufficient police force to monitoring the activities of armed groups we were not well prepared to control riots. But the EPRDF is known for one thing - it could make mistakes but it will not repeat them,” Meles said. Asked about the possibilities of forming a coalition government with opposition parties, Meles said such ideas were floated by those who do not know about the country’s election law. He pointed out that the party which wins a majority seat forms a government. “If the EPRDF doesn’t win adequate seats, it will hand over power. It can not work together with opposition parties, which have a completely different objective. What has been done in Kenya and Zimbabwe is they tried to eliminate the ruling party from power though chaos and when they failed they said that they had established a coalition government. They said so after many lost their lives. This doesn’t work here,” he said. Read More...

Joke of the day

A salesman was demonstrating unbreakable combs in a department store. He was impressing the people who stopped by to look by putting the comb through all sorts of torture and stress. Finally to impress even the skeptics in the crowd, he bent the comb completely in half, and it snapped with a loud crack. Without missing a beat, he bravely held up both halves of the 'unbreakable' comb for everyone to see and said, "And this, ladies and gentlemen, is what an unbreakable comb looks like on the inside."

Joke of the day

A biology teacher wished to demonstrate to his students the harmful effects of alcohol on living organisms. For his experiment, he showed them a beaker with pond water in which there was a thriving civilization of worms. When he added some alcohol into the beaker the worms doubled-up and died. "Now," he said, "what do you learn from this?" An eager student gave his answer. "Well the answer is obvious," he said "if you drink alcohol, you'll never have worms."

J'Accuse!

By Alemayehu G/Mariam No alternative in the opposition," they whispered anonymously. What a disgusting phrase to use in justifying support for a ruthless dictatorship? That is apparently the scuttlebutt on Embassy Row in Addis Abeba. Reuters' Barry Malone reported last week, "Most Western governments want Meles to continue because there is no alternative in the opposition. As long as the elections are semi-democratic, they'll probably stay quiet, keep giving aid, hope for liberalisation of the economy and leave full democracy for later." Is this the ultimate proof of the triumph of Western moral relativism, hypocrisy and skullduggery in Ethiopia and Africa? Is this the new 21st Century Western paradigm of moral capitulation and appeasement of evil? Is the West going to a moral hellhole in a hand basket?...Read more

Joke of the day

Two farmers were discussing politics and the first one says: "I believe in a share and share alike policy. One where we are all equal." "Well" replied the other farmer "I'm not sure about that. What you mean is that if you have two horses you'd give me one?" "Of course" says the first. The second farmer continued: "and if you had two cars, you'd give me one of them too?" "Absolutely" "So" says the second farmer, "if you had two pigs then you'd give me one of them?" "Ah, now hang on a minute" says the first, "you know I've got two pigs!"

Joke of the day

My husband, Phil, and I had stopped by my father's house on the way to a friend's funeral. During the visit, my husband spoke about the man who had died, saying, "You know, I had a feeling I should have called him last week, but I didn't. The next time I have that feeling, I'm going to do it." Later Dad saw us to the door. As we said our goodbyes, he muttered to my husband, "And don't call me."